NFL Divisional Playoffs Primer: What To Look For This Weekend

There was only one real surprise during last week's NFL Wild Card playoff round: the Denver Broncos pulling off an astonishing
overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers because of
Tim Tebow's arm.

The three other winners —Saints, Giants, Texans — were widely
expected.

So could we see some surprises in this weekend's divisional
round? Possibly.

There could be some Tebow magic, Houston could somehow head to
the AFC Championship game led by a third-string quarterback, and
the Giants could play another excellent all-around game and
defeat the mighty Packers.

Regardless of what the final outcomes are these will be the keys
to each game:

Yes, the 49ers defense ranked fourth best in the league this
season, but did you know their passing defense is merely middle
of the pack (16th)? So Drew Brees should have little trouble
putting up big numbers. He should watch out for San Francisco's
interception-loving secondary, though, as Dashon
Goldson, Carlos Rogers, and
Tarell Brown each picked off four or more passes
in 2011. For all the flak Alex Smith gets, the
49ers QB does a good job of holding on to the football and does
enough to keep his team in games. San Fran will have to play
keepaway to make sure it stays close.

These teams already met once before, with the Broncos keeping it
close for most of the first half before the Patriots took a
commanding lead and never gave it up. The big guys up front will
make all the difference in their second matchup. Denver only
sacked Tom Brady twice, while New England
brought Tebow down four times in Week 15. If Von
Miller and Elvis Dumervill can get to
Brady, this will stay close much longer than their first meeting.
If not, Patriots probably roll to victory.

This is easily the least sexy matchup of the weekend.
Third-stringer T.J. Yates versus Joe
Flacco doesn't exactly get everyone excited, but if
you're into tough defenses this one is definitely for you. The
squads rank in the top five in the entire league in passing,
rushing, and total defense. Baltimore beat Houston when they
faced off early on in the season, but that was an entirely
different Texans team with Matt Schaub still
under center. So does that mean Baltimore should win easily this
time around? Not necessarily. The Texans are one of the best pass
rushing teams in the league and Flacco was sacked more than 30
times in 2011.

Yet another repeat matchup from the 2011 regular season. Green
Bay's 38-35 victory over New York in week 13 may have been the
first time we noticed the Packers were actually beatable. Both
Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning
had huge days, thanks in large part to great protection from
their lines. This is likely to repeat itself this weekend.
Whichever team runs the ball better than the other one (they were
fairly even in their first game with New York outgaining Green
Bay by a few yards) will have a leg up.